Match Up Export: Link

Overview: Of the Hyrulian origin, Link is in Brawl with all the tools he's brought with him from his game. Bombs, hookshot, arrows and boomerang make Link an interesting projectile chracters and these are the tools Kirby has to face in this match-up.

Kirby’s Pros and Cons:

+ Superior offstage game
+ Superior aerial game
- Lightweight
- Lacks projectile

Link's Pros and Cons:

+ Plethora of Kill options
+ Projectiles mixed w/ Zair make for a formidable wall
- Gets destroyed offstage

Watch out for:
ZAir – The most annoying part of this MU is the Zair. It's how Link combats aerialKirby. It's good when used in and around bombs, boomerang and arrows. Not game-breaking but something worth watching for.

Kirby @ HI% – Link IS a kill move. Link has a moderatly average time racking damage but once Kirby is up there he'll have an easy time killing.

Offstage Link – Keep your eyes peeled for openings to get Link offstage because that's the fast route to getting kills. Onces he's off just Dair his recovery; actually...you can handle gimping him however feels comfortable. Link is super heavy so at those higher percents he'll be Diing up and away; follow your Fthrow with rising Fairs to force him offstage.

How to win:
Play with efficiency – Utilize your tilts and strings to rack damage. Don't eat a bunch of projectiles trying to get in because it's easier to just wait and bait. Approach using your jumps and read where he goes when he has no room left on the stage except through you; punish accordingly.

Get Link Offstage – The key in this matchup is getting Link offstage beause it's an easy stock kill if you get him in this bad position. Inhale shenanigans are worth using once you have a stock lead because Link will die so quickly (If you feel the Link isn't trying to break out of the inhale, wait on the stage a bit before jumping off so the inhale breaks before you die with him).

Spit out or Swallow?
Copy is fun because it gives you a camping option; It's also semi-useful to approach with. Inhale>footstool>DAir>footstool just seems like a better option though don't you think?

Stages (in order of priority):
PTAD – Easily a good stage for this MU. There's a few areas with ledges but a large majority is spent on the floating stage where there are NO ledges. Another good note is this stage is VERY small on the main stage and is easy to get in and beat Link.
RC – The terrain of the boat is useful when you want to wait out a spammy, campy Link. If you feel like attacking, attack from high and bait his Utilt/USmash. Once the stage starts moving vertically, go aggro on Link and pressure him 'til he is offstage. On the top horizontal left->right moving stage just use the platforms to negate his projectiles and pressure him allllll the way right and offstage.
Frigate Orpheon – The stage flip gives you an auto-setup for getting Link offstage. The lack of ledges for Link to grab plays a part in this MU.
Nowhere. – Link against Kirby has no disadvantage stages for Kirby. Ban Luigi's for no other reason than the possibility of it keeping Link alive longer than he should be. Or Delfino because it has less options to kill Link by him being off stage.



Synopsis:
It's a very dry match. Link is going to be doing this and that and he'll be moving really fast trying to set up whatever but it's all for naught; Kirby basically stands there and watches then punishes any opening in an attempt to work Link offstage.

Discuss!

I play against Legan, 3rd best Link, and even though he outplays me, my character beats HIS character too hard.

This is a **** MU; We have a large disadvantage in this fight.

The idea is just approach aerially with Kirby's multitude of jumps to wait, bait and punish. Get him off the stage = stock.

There is absolutely nothing to this MU other than be smart and patient while racking damage through dash shield and grab or BAiring. This is a CAKE MU.

Strike CS, FD and SV. Castle Siege is just too much room. FD is too open to promot projectile use and same with SV. This leaves PS1, Delfino, BF and YI. In order of preference: 1. PS1 2.Delfino 3. BF 4. YI

CP to PTAD, RC or JJ

Im not sure if this will help but there's an export of an old match up of Kirby Vs Link. Though i didnt really look at it. http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=8791488#post8791488

My thoughts on Kirby Vs Link (being a Link player), the match is a little one sided. While it is easy enough to get out of kirby's grab combos being F or Dthrow, but it does leave you open after you attempt to get out of it. If Kirby knows how you will get out he could probably wait for the jump and airdodge and then follow up with aerials. I usually am able to get out of Dthrow after one, but if Kirby used utilt instead im pretty sure it would hit.

Things to watch out for against Link, are mostly his bombs and rang. With Link he can really make use of bomb juggling with aerials and smashes and could catch you off guard. Also Link has some really long range compared to Kirby for melee attacks. They are also disjointed and possibly have more priority.

For this match up. I find Zair nearly useless, all kirby has to do is just stand there and it usually goes over his head unless Link uses it late where it only hits one time. Though at that point you might just be able to duck under it as well.

I think Kirby has more killing potential with his Fsmash then Link has with any of his attacks. Maybe not Dair. Though down tilted Fsmash will probably kill Link really early without having to bother gimping him.

Link's main killing moves against Kirby are probably going to be Utilt, Dsmash, and Dair. Utilt and Dsmash are 2 of Links fastest attacks besides like jab which is still slow compared to most characters. Expect to die at around 120% from Dsmash, probably higher for Utilt. Dair will most certainly kill kirby early, though it is easy to get around if you see it coming. I think Fsmash could work as a killing move, but there is a better chance for survival as kirby. Though beware the long range of Fsmash, and the second strike. When someone is cornered at the edge of the stage. The first hit can push you off while you shield and the second hit can kill you once you are pushed off.

Watch out of Link's Jab and arrow locks. He is one of the few characters that can set up locks a multitude of ways. A neat little video showing a bunch of jab lock set ups. You can tech some of them but all the foot stool ones are not techable. Most players wont do them but some will. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e291cu7khzE

Best stages for Link in my opinion. Large stages (camping), Brinstar(Lava + Camping), and Norfair(Camping + Lava + Ledges). Though i really like BF, though most Link's dont.

Anyway i agree with most of the stuff said about Kirby Vs Link. Link is utter failure against Kirby.

What Ryos said pretty much sums it up.

Z-air is useless, owing to Kirby's height, so that takes one of our best tools out of the game right away. Although if you guys keep jumping (or floating, like Peach), it's an invitation to Z-air, so be careful. Do watch out for bombs. BTW, we can cancel an airdodge into a Z-air.

As for kill moves, don't count out F-tilt. It's a slightly slower but slightly more powerful version of a U-tilt turned on its side.Your height might take away our SH B-air OoS option, I'm not sure. Links, input?

One question I do have: does your Stone (down-special?) beat out our U-air?

As for stages, how well does Kirby do on Norfair? I'd imagine pretty well, since Kirby is a very good aerial character.

Yeah, just stand around and watch Link run about. Once you have an opening, well, you guys know better than me what to do.

@Ryos: The only reason I'll take to BF is it sort of negates the gimping value most characters have on Link because I can kill them easier onstage. Apart from that, I'll stay away from small stages as a rule.

(Link player)
I find Zair to be a good air-spacing, if Kirby's in range and lined up horizontally with Link (SH attacks for example) Link will likely Zair. Zair's fast, Link's longest reaching non-range attack, and it has constant attack as the claw extends. Kirby's reach and speed with attacks like Bair completely own Link in the air so we want to keep you Kirby players from entering our 'happy bubble' with Zair and Jab cancels.

Of course Link will moving camp spam a lot. Powershileding's almost always the best way to approach Link. Spacing Kirby is very difficult, Link barely out-reaches but Kirby is much faster. There are bomb and boomerang spacing tricks Link uses to watch out for. Link can throw bombs in all 4 directions, slide while throwing, air dodge and drop a bomb at the same time, drop a bomb and catch it with air attacks, Bomb Fsmash, Bomb Zair, and combo by dropping/throwing one down>Nair or Dair, footstool jump>down bomb throw>Dair. Expect bombs to be thrown upwards to limit high recoveries. Be careful, bombs are our wild card. Boomerang has bad starting lag but good hitstun and can Limit Kirby's air spacing. The wind can gimp a careless Kirby using UpB; at the end of the boomerang's outward movement wind will push. I've gimped Zelda after Din's Fire and Kirby's UpB this way. TBH, don't worry about the wind, it will have little influence on the match at best. Arrows are bad but fast, Link might fire a few in the air or quickdraw (fire an arrow while landing to reduce the lag).
Alone Link's spam is too slow so we mix up projectiles and other attacks.

When Link does land a powerful attack it will hurt. Since it's so easy to shield and counter Link's lag, we try to punish spacing or short combo with kill moves. Zair>Fsmash/Utilt, or bomb/boomerang>Dair, Arrow lock>Dsmash etc.

Having said that, Kirby destroys Link, K's Fsmash is super annoying, same with chaingrabs and anything off stage. Kirby must approach; be fast and defensive find an opening then switch to aggressive, pressure Link offstage and exploit Link's horrible side recovery. Link's very difficult to star KO, and we have MANY good ways to star KO light Kirby so stick with punishing landings and side KOs. Link's Nair starts frame 6 and is used to break combos along with Zair. Remember Link has excellent DI when using multi-hit moves.

Stages:
Starters- I hate Yoshi's Island (Brawl), that's probably your best choice. Strike FD then Battlefield, I think platforms help Link more than Kirby.

Counters:
As stated Link is great at star KOing and resistant to being star KOed. Ban Brinstar, Norfair, or Green Greens, depending on your preferences and what's legal. Frigate's Link's worst stage, if it's banned choose a small stage that you like with a high ceiling where Link can't retreat. Kirby's slow air movement might give Link too much room on Rainbow Cruse, I don't know.

65-35 or 70-30 Kirby's favor.

Didn't read all of this, but from my experience playing Links24, the only thing that's really annoying is when he gets above you and hits with a bomb, which can lead to bomb>footstool>Dair.

Zair and projectiles can get annoying, but meh, unlike TL we can actually catch him, so it doesn't hurt too much.

I really don't think this is as bad as people say, might be my experience in the MU, 4:6 or 35:65. IMO manageable disadvantage.

The gimping is part of the reason this is a bad MU, then there is the whole problem with getting grabbed at low %, and the juggling.

I wouldn't say Kirby had no stages he wants to strike actually, if Norfair is legal in your region ban it immediately Link getting to kill earlier, live longer, and camp better is something I doubt you guys want to happen. Battlefield isn't bad with the platform assistance.

Port town Aero Drive?...I can't think of a region that has this legal, if it is legal go for it, but I wouldn't recommend it per say when most of the regions don't have this legal.

I'll talk about this more later.

Well, PTAD is in the new ruleset, so you're going to start seeing it more most likely.

I dunno, it's pretty bad for Link, but we don't completely shut him down either. Large disadvantage sounds good to me.

JoWiiCIDE said:

I play against Legan, 3rd best Link, and even though he outplays me, my character beats HIS character too hard.

Click to expand...

I got to play against Legan at MLG (friendlies). I don't pay attention to the Link boards much so I didn't know who he was. *blush* Tell him to play more patiently against Kirby and it should help his game a lot.

Out of curiosity, who are considered the two Links above him?

I don't think there are any... At least the Link player I played was saying Legan was supposed to be the best and that he was probably 2nd.

BF is a realy good stage for Link, the platforms give us more angles to shot our arrows or throw our bombs and boomerang, and help to kill Kirby early, (fresh Dsmash in a platform at Kirby in 100%, that will hurt). So keep this in mind

about the intro JoWiiSIDE, i have to disagree, Link is good as damage rating, no the best, but good, if you down the guard, he will give a lot of damage, or enough damage to kill kirby

Well IYM!, first off it's 'CIDE, like Kirbicide.

Second, you're right to some degree; Link racks damage moderately ok when the Kirby doesn't powershield EVERYTHING. It's a good point though so I'll edit that.

You can't really powershield everything: most specifically strings started by Zair, since that has 2 hits. Also, autocanceled arrows can catch you off guard if you're not expecting them.
That being said I agree with the general point.

JoWiiCIDE said:

Well IYM!, first off it's 'CIDE, like Kirbicide.

Second, you're right to some degree; Link racks damage moderately ok when the Kirby doesn't powershield EVERYTHING. It's a good point though so I'll edit that.

Click to expand...

sorry JoWiiCIDE ("C" this time )

Link have a moderately good damage rating, isnt very good as Samus of course, but is OK.

if you powershield all, well, of course will not recive damage.

but is pretty hard do that, a good Link, never will stop to move and mix his
projectiles with his close-range attack.

just keep this in mind,

again, sorry for wrote wrong your nick , and thanks for remember the "!"

PD: you have a shorter name??

JoWii.

Btw, after playing Legan last night I realized how annoying Link's projectiles are. They're just annoying though, not great.